Ventilator for refrigerator-cars.



I E POSSON. I VENTILATOR FOR BEFRIGERATOR CARS.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 5, 912- 1,21 8,896. Patented Mar. 13,1917.

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APPLICATION FILED FEB. 5, 1912. 1,218,896. Patented Mar. 13, 1917.

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R W w I I ,Q MML x/ M EDWARD POSSON, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

VENTILATdR FOR. REFRIGERATOR-CARS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented. Mar. 13, 1917.

Application filed February 5, 1912. Serial No. 675,611.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWARD PossoN, a citizen of the United States,residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Ventilators forRefrigerator-Cars, of which the following is a specification,

My invention relates in general to freight cars, and more particularlyto ventilators for refrigerator cars.-

It is necessary that refrigerator cars should be provided withventilators in order that perishable freight, such as fruit, may besupplied with fresh air during transportation. It is desirable that theamount of fresh air should be varied according to the weather conditionsand according to the character and condition of the perishable freight;It is also desirable that the ventilator should be of such constructionas to permit complete heat insulation of the oar walls, essential torefrigerator cars.

My invention has for its objects to provide a ventilator forrefrigerator cars which may be readily adjusted to regulate the supplyof fresh air; which will prevent the in-' gress of-cinders, dust andwater, and which will permit the complete insulation of the car, walls.

A further object of my invention is to provide a ventilator for freightcars which will be simple in construction, convenient in operation, andeflicient in use.

My invention will be more fully described hereinafter with reference tothe accompanying drawings, in which the same is illustrated as embodiedin a convenient and practical form, and in which Figure 1 is a phn viewof one end of a refrigerator freight car equipped with my improvedventilator;

Fig. 2, an end view, one-half in elevation and the other half invertical section, along the line 2 2, Fig. 1;

Fig. 3, a horizontal sectional view along the line 3 3, Fig. l;

Fig. 4, a vertical sectional view on the line 4 4, Fig. 1, theventilator being shown closed;

Fig. 5, an enlarged sectional view similar to Fig. 4, showing theventilator fully open.

The same reference characters are used to designate the same parts inthe several figures of the drawings.

Reference character A indicates the roof of a refrigerator freight carhaving at one byhatches B, B of any-suitable co'nstruction. The platformZ) serves to support the operator while delivering ice through thehatchways to the ice-box within the car. a indicates the usual runwayextending along the longitudinal center of the car roof. I) designatesthe usual brake staff journaled vertically upon the end of the car.

A, A indicate the vertical side posts at the corners of the car wall,while A designates the vertical center post. A indicates the end sillwhich extends transversely of the car and is secured to the upper endsof the side and center posts. The end sill, as shown in Figs. 4 and 5,is set back from the end of the car substantially the thickness of thecenter and side posts, but the side plates a and a (see Fig. 3) extendto the end of the carand'overlap the side posts. Located below the endsill A and extending across the upper end of the car is a beam C theouter surface of such beam bein substantiall-y flush with the innersurfaces of the center and side posts, as shown in Fig. 3. A second beamA comprising alined sections extending on opposite sides of the centerposts to the end posts, is located slightly below the beam C and isprovided with a downwardly and outwardly inclined upper surface. Locatedabove the inner portion of the transverse beam C is a transversepartition 0, the latter being spaced apart at its lower edge from theupper surface of the beam C so as to form openings C and extending intothe ice-box 13-. Vertical sliding doors D and D control the open- Ametallic plate E extends across the end of the car above the beam A andoverlying the outer surfaces of the end posts A and A and center post AThe upper edge of the plate E is bent inwardly, 'as shown. at e, beneaththe portion of the platform I) which overlies the beam A? The inner edgeof lower edge of the plate E and the adjacent edge'of the sheathingsecured to the transverse beam A A deflector 6 extends from the innersurface of the plate E adjacent its lower edge, such deflector beinginclined downwardly and inwardly and terminating at'its lower. edge ashort distance away from the adjacent surface of the beam A Locatedwithin the upper portion of the space above each section of the beam Ais a plate E which is inclined downwardly and inwardly from the innersurface of the plate E at the top thereof into contact with the end sillA against which the plate E is secured. The plate E continues downwardlyto a point substantially opposite the lower edge of the partition 0where it terminates in an outwardly extending inclined flange e. Theplate E, together with the outer surface of the partition 0, serves as aguideway for the sliding doors D and D The plate E is provided along itsupper portion with elongated openings F and F extending substantiallythe entire width of the top-of the car. Around the openings F and F 2the plate E is bent to form flanges to which are secured screens f, 7completely closing the openings F- and F Vertically sliding metallicdoors G and G are located in contact with the inner surface of the plateE and are adapted to close the openings F and F respectively.

the space between the transverse beam A and plate E at a planesubstantially at the horizontal center of such space. The shaftH-extends through the center post A and gear wheels K,' K are securedupon the portion of the shaft Hbetween the center post A and sidepostA..- The gear wheels are located within the respective' brackets- H andH as shownin Fig. 4.

. Extending upwardly'froin ears that. the

lower edges of the doors D and D arepairs of rack bars d: and d the pair"of rack bars 03, being-"pivotally connected to the.

ears 0? adjacent the lower'edges of the door D, while the pair-ofrack'bars d (1 are pivotally connected to the ears d adjacent the loweredge of the door D The rack A shaft H extends transversely within" barsat, d extend upwardly and mesh with the gear wheels K K, while the pairof rack bars d (Z extend upwardly and mesh with the pair of gears K KThe brackets H and H serve to retain the rack bars in mesh with thecorresponding gear wheels, as clearly shown in Fig. 4.

Depending from the vertically sliding metallic door G are. rack bars 9,g pivotally connected at their upper ends to ears g secured adjacent thelower edge of the door. These rack bars mesh with the gears K, K on theopposite peripheries thereof from the rack bars d, d. Similar-rack bars9 g are pivotally' secured at. their upper ends to ears 9 secured to thelower edges of the door G and meshing with the gears K K at the'oppositesides of their peripheries from the rack bars d (Z A bevel gear L isfixed upon the shaft H and meshes with a bevel gear M fixed upon thelower end of a vertical shaft m, as clearly shown in Fig. 2. Z indicatesa bracket secured to a vertical member of the car framework providedwith angular portion through which the shafts H and m extend and whichserves to retain the bevel gears L and M in mesh. The upper end of theshaft m extends through a plate 0 secured on the upper surface of theplatform 6 adjacent the front edge thereof, as shown in Fig. 1. Theplate 0 is provided with a series of spaced lugs 0, any one of which maybe engaged by an opening n formed in the handle N pivoted at its innerbifurcated end upon the upper end of the shaft on.

The manner of use and operation of my improved ventilator is as follows:When it is desired to admit air to the interior of the car, the handle Nis swung upwardly S? as to disengage the opening n therein from theengaged lug 0 on the plate 0, after which the handle N is rotated,thereby rotating the shaft m and through the meshed bevel gears M and LrotatingI the shaft H. The rotation of the shaft through the engagementof the gears thereon with the respective pairs of rack bars serves tolower the doors G and Gr and to raise the doors D and D therebyuncovering the openings F and F in the plate E downwardly from their upper edges and simultaneously uncovering the openings 0 and C below thepartition C upwardly from their lower edges. By rotating the handle N toany desired extent,

.the doors G and G and D and D may be opened more or less according tothe amount of fresh air which it may be desired to sup- .ply to the car.After the handle N has been rotated sufficiently to effect the desiredopening of the doors,'it is swung downwardly so that its recess n willengage the nearest lug 0 thereby locking the shaft m against furtherrotation and through the meshed bevel gears and meshed gears and rackbars, ryetaining the doors in the positions to which they have beenadjusted.

It will be observed that thedoors D and D can only open to an extentcorresponding to the degree of opening the doors G and G Hence only somuch of the screened openings F, F are uncovered as is necessary tosupply the requisite amount of fresh air to the openings C and 0outwardly inclined flange e .at the loweredge of said plate is reachedfrom which the water drops clear ofthe doors D and D upon the downwardlyinclined surface of the beam A from which the water passes through theopening below the edge of the deflector e and out of the opening coveredby the offset portion 6 at the lower edge of the plate E. The deflectore serves to direct the air which has passed downwardly within the spaceF toward the openings C and C The air space formed between the plates Eand E not only serves as a conduit through which the air passes from thescreened openings F and F to the openings C and C but when the doors areclosed, such air space openings serve to contain an insulating volume ofair. The provision of my improvedventilator therefore, does notinterfere with the comp ete insulation of the walls of a refrigeratorcar, inasmuch as the air chamber F is located immediately above theusual insulation containing space between the inner and outer sheathingof the car walls.

From the foregoing description, it will be observed that I have inventedan improved construction of ventilator for freight cars which may beconveniently adjusted to control the volume of air supplied to theinterior of the car; which permits the complete insulation of the wallsof the car, and which prevents the ingress of dust, cinders or waterwhen open.

\Vhile I have described more or less in detail the specific form inwhich I have illustrated my invention as embodied, yet I do not wish tobe understood as limiting myself thereto, as I contemplate changes inform, proportion of parts, and substitution of equivalents, ascircumstances may require, or as may be deemed expedient.

I claim:

1. A car having spaced apart walls at one end thereof, said walls beingeach provided with ventilating openings, said openings being offset theone with respect to the other, and means to simultaneously open andclose said openings.

2. A car having an end wall provided with an opening therein, a platespaced from said end wall, said plate being provided with an openingoffset with respect to said first named opening, a closure for saidopening in said plate, and means to operate said closure, said platebeing arranged to provide an aperture adjacent its lower portion, saidplate being further provided with a strip secured thereto and inclinedwith respect to said plate, said strip being located adjacent saidaperture.

3. A car having an end wall provided with an opening therein, a platespaced .from said end wall, said plate being provided with an openingoffset with respect to said first named opening, a closure for said opening in said plate, means to operate said closure, said plate beingarranged to provide an aperture adjacent its lower portion, said platebeing further provided with a strip secured thereto and inclined withrespect to said plate,'said strip being located adj acent said aperture,and means to direct vertical walls of said air chamber being providedwith o'ifset openings, the lower wall of said air chamber being formedby a,

transverse beam having a downwardly and outwardly inclined uppersurface, and the outer wall of said air chamber being formed by a platewhich terminates along its lower edge adjacent to but spaced fromsaidtransverse beam whereby a drain opening is provided for Said airchamber.

In testimony whereof, I have subscribed my name.

EDWARD POSSON.

Witnesses: HENRY A. PARKS, I A. L. WALTON.

